If you thought the Irda were the end of the drastic difference between the ogres on Krynn and every other Dungeons and Dragons world, buckle up, because I have to tell you about the Ogre Titans! Buy Rise of the Titans: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/198928/Rise-of-the-Titans-2e-SAGA?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
The story of the ogres is far from complete. The Irda went one direction and all other ogres went another one. Let’s look at the history of ogre titans.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about ogre titans. I would like to take a moment and thank my collaborator patrons, the Heroes of the Lance, and invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel by visiting the links in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. This episode is primarily informed by the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Rise of the Titans Battle Lines Adventure and the Age of Mortals Dragonlance Campaign Setting Companion Sourcebook.
Discussion
This history of the ogres comes from the ogre mage Dauroth of Blöde. It is skewed, as he is the ogre that created titans and restored their race to greatness, but in every history lies elements of truth. We start our tale at the beginning with the Curse of Paladine. In the beginning the great Darklady created ogres, the magical and beautiful race that would enslave humans and drive off the elves. They ruled their lands as masters, and were masterful. This was the age of titans. They were not the misshapen beasts you find roaming mountains, they were proud, powerful and prodigious. The god of good and neutrality were jealous of what they had accomplished and set to tear down all that they had built. They corrupted one of their own, a wealthy landowner named Igraine. He was tricked into freeing his slaves which set off a rebellion amongst the millions of their slaves. They were strengthened by Paladine and overwhelmed the ogre ancestors. To add insult to injury, Paladine cursed them saying “Let the Evil in their hearts be evident in their forms.”
This curse was not immediate but became evident in each following generation, falling farther away from their nobility and beauty. After a few hundred years, they had completely changed. The Ogre Magi descended from Treloran, a powerful titan that shielded his children from the full curse of Paladine. Giants descended from the great titan soldier Raunquar. They maintained their stature and strength if not in mind. Deformed Ettin’s and Cyclops’ are misshapen giants. The hags and ogresses descended from a powerful wizard named lurrhein who ultimately lost her mind due to the curse. Takhisis was angry at Lurrhein for her capitulation to Paladine and her children became the Annis, greenhags and sea hags. The ogre race has now changed completely and are unrecognizable from their origins.
Now, everyone knows Ogres love mountains. But mountain life is challenging. Historically, the ogre race rose to prominence due to their enslavement of other races. The slaves performed all menial tasks like farming and mining, leaving the ogres free to pursue art, music, literature and magic. After the curse of Paladine and the slave revolt, they had to turn to scavenging and predatory living. They remained in the mountains for the protections they offered, but as the community grew, tribes would migrate to new locations. Some stayed in their mountain homes, and others traveled to the valley’s below.
They dwelt primarily, in two realms. The mountain realm of Blöde and the tropical peninsula of Kern. Blöde is the location where ogres were first placed on Krynn by the Darklady herself. Recently the Khan of Kern ceded control to the Chieftain of Blöde, a move that united the realms under the guidance of the titans. The repercussion was a bloody civil war which led to the bitter defeat of the cowardly rebels. Kern occupies the Kern peninsula, surrounded by the Blood Sea of Istar, the Northern Courrain Ocean, and the Miremier Seas. The temperatures are oppressively hot. Centuries of logging left only two wooded regions to the north and south respectively. The ogres here live simpler lives unconcerned with the rest of the world. Blöde is a civilized place. The Khalkist mountains shelter its residents who live in ancient cities. The weather is much cooler due to its elevation and geographic location.
From here the narrative will change from Dauroth to Hundjal who will recount the story of Dauroth. Dauroth is a scion of the ogre-magi. His lifelong quest is to find a way to restore his people to their former glory. He believes no race or even dragon could stand up to the original ogre race, the titans. He studied ancient magics, seeking the knowledge of his ancestry, but all he learned paled in comparison to their memories. Then the Summer of Chaos struck, and all his magic was gone. Lost, confused and defeated, Dauroth destroyed his laboratory and wandered off into the wilderness to die. There, on the brink of death he had a vision. A great titan of old appeared to him and guided him for seven days and nights, revealing the secrets of Krynns new magic to him. But most importantly, the titan spirit revealed that Dauroth must become a titan, in order to wield the power of the titans.
He would travel to the ancient homelands of Kern and Blöde, experimenting on hundreds of ogres that perished in the process. Then he realized the missing ingredient, the blood of their ancient enemy, the elves. Dauroth formed raiding parties to capture several dozen elves from the borders of Silvanesti. In his citadel, over the course of three days, he practiced his ancient rituals on himself, drained ten elves of every drop of blood and submerged himself within it. The pain he experienced was great, but when he emerged, he had transformed into a giant paragon of beauty, standing over fifteen feet in height. His skin turned blue, his ears were pointed, his teeth sharpened, and his eyes were inky pools of darkness. Dauroth felt the surge of magic course through his new lean and powerfully built body. He would become the messiah to lead his people to glory. There was a downside, as the power was only temporary and it led to even more disfigurement. Through experimentation he learned a regular dosage of elven blood would maintain his new form.
Dauroth would transform the Blöde chieftain, Chief Donnag into a titan, though his natural cunning and wit were elevated through the process, rather than the magic of Dauroth. The ogres rallied behind their titan leaders. Knowing they would need elven blood to sustain them, and even more to transform new titans for defense, they attacked Alhana Starbreeze’s encampments outside the Silvanesti shield. They put out a bounty to all ogre and minotaur nations on elves, and began plans for a full blown invasion. They led an army against Alhana and the Legion of Steel. They captured hundreds of elves, taking them right back to Blöde. With the new source of elven blood, Dauroth creates thirty-five titans who rally the ogres together, squashing the rebellion from Kern and are poised and ready to capture Alhana and her elves. After that he plans to take Silvanesti. At least, these were his plans at the beginning of the new Age of Titans.
Ogre Titans are gifted with heightened senses, Inscrutable Intellect, an awe-inspiring presence, the ability to shape stone and steel with their bare hands, drain the essence from the undead, transform some of their own life energy into a missile weapon called a Soul Blast, and are cursed and gifted with their state of grace. This requires the employment of one of two methods: The first is to repeat the original ritual, requiring the fresh blood of ten elves. The second was an elixir Dauroth discovered that only requires the blood of a single elf, and can hold off degeneration for a month at a time! The elixir has a shelf life of a year, so the titans have actually begun harvesting elven blood, while keeping the ‘donor’ alive in order to replenish their supply.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about ogre titans. Was there anything I left out that you would like to hear more about? Are ogre titans too overpowered? And lastly, have you ever played Dragonlance in the fifth age and faced an ogre titan? Leave a comment below.
I would like to once again invite you to consider becoming a patron or member of this channel, and you can pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link, all of which are in the description below.
This channel is all about celebrating the wonderful world of the Dragonlance Saga, and I hope you will join me in the celebration. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
There is no such thing as disaster – merely opportunity.
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